This movie is plausibly realistic and intense in its presentation with great action sequences and surreal cinematography.

Director Peter Berg documents the story of 4 soldiers that are sent on a mission in the Middle East to identify a high value target. Things get bloody when the mission goes wrong as the soldiers fight for their lives to survive in the barren hills against an army of Afghan terrorists.

Cinematography: This movie has a lot of fast paced action sequences that are incredibly brutal. The director uses a brave amount of close-up shots during the battles that help capture the emotions of the actors.

Writing: The dialogue in this movie is nothing to write home about although it does have a strong emotional tone. It has its moments. This is mostly a very serious movie. There is some small talk between the major action sequences to help lighten up the intense situations, although it can be distracting. Yet it is necessary. Overall, the dialogue in this movie is simple and minimalistic.

Editing: This film is edited how an action movie would be edited. During the battles the editing is fast paced and while there is dialogue it is moderate and conservative. From beginning to end, the movie is incredibly fluid. The video editing is seamless while the sound editing is also up to par. I am not a golfer but I would say this movie was a hole in one.

Costume design: As you would expect, there isn’t anything to fancy with the costume design. It is mostly typical military outfits. However the makeup design is great. The blood doesn’t look fake, quite the opposite in fact (not that I would know).

Set design: There is a decent amount of scenery in this movie, but don’t expect waterfalls and bridges. The down to earth style of this movie takes place in a harsh environment that is well demonstrated through differentiating terrain. The locations where this movie was filmed were limited yet magnificent.

Soundtrack: There isn’t a lot of music in this particular movie. It consists primarily of ambient sound effects that you will hardly notice as you get sucked into the story. There is quite a bit of gun fire that sounds as good as it should for a movie of this caliber. After all, this isn’t your typical cheap documentary with phony actors. It’s quite the opposite in fact.

Peter Berg’s “Lone Survivor” is an instant classic. I would recommend it to film lovers abroad for the unreal action sequences, the top notch acting and unforgettable scenes. Observe the account of a true American hero that is portrayed incredibly well by Mark Wahlberg in the best war movie of the year.